William douglass woodward



(No ModeL) 2 SheetsShee t 1.

W. D. WOODWARD.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 367,882. Patented Aug. 9,1887.

WITNESSES:

e INVENTOI? m 2.. BY

V ,'r h F ATTORNEYS (No Mbdel.)

2 Shga'et's-Sheet 2.

W. D. WO ODWARD.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

Patented Aug. 9, 1887'.

IIVVE/VTOI? I WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.-

WILLIAMDOUGLA SS WOODWVARD, OF PLATTSBUBG, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO ANNA S. HARRINGTON, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,882; dated August 9, 1887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DOU'GLASS WOODWARD, of Plattsburg, in the county of Clinton and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad- Switches; and I hereby declare the following to'be a full and clear description thereof.

The object of this invention is to construct a railway-switch in such a manner that the switch-rails may be operated or thrown from one track to another, either from the ground or from the top'of a car on the train, without the necessity of the switchmau leaving the train.

The inventionwill be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a general plan of a main and a 7 side track fitted with my improved switch Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation showing the mechanism for operating the switch from the cars. Fig. 4 is a section on line 00 00 of Fig. 1.

The rails A indicate the main track and the rails A the side tracln The rails are secured to tie-pieces a in the usual manner. The guardrails A are constructed and applied in the usual manner. The switch-rails A are different from those in common use, in that they are made wedge-shaped in plan, and at their wider ends they are pivoted to a tie, a, by means of a sound central pin, a, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The small end of the said wedge-shaped switch-rail is adjusted in form andposition to lie tightly against the inside of the contiguous main rail, so as to shunt the train onto it, when it isso placed in contact with the main-rail, as in the ordinary form of operating switching rails. An operatinglever, B, is pivoted by a bolt, 1), to one of the ties to in a suitable position to operate the switch-rails A with which its free or swinging end is connected by a switch-rod, B, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. This operating-lever B is placed about midway between the rails to be operatedupon, and is placed parallel, or nearly so, with the said rails. The said switchrod B holds the moving or sharpened ends of the switchrails at a distance apart slightly Application filed December 7, 1886. Serial No. 220,872. (No model.)

less than the gage of the road, as shown in Fig. 1, and as is customary, so as to allow for the said switching-rails to be moved to or from either side,so as to make continuous either the rails of the main track or of the side track.

Outside of the rails of the track and lying parallel therewith, and preferably fastened to the ends of the ties, (though this is not essential,) are placed conduit-pipes G- for each side of the'track. These may be formed of ordinary gas-pipes and joined together in a man- 6 nor similar to the joinings of gas-pipe. One end of each of these conduit-pipes is made to terminate opposite the switch-rod B in a quarter-turn elbow, O. From this elbow-turn the conduit-pipe is continued for some dis- 6 5 tance-several hundred feet, if desired-to an upwardly-turned elbow, 0 from which said vertical elbow a riser-pipe, 0", extends upwardly to a point above the level of the top of the train, and there connects with a latcrallyo. turned elbow, C. These two upper elbows C are made to face each other, and are connected by a lateral pipe, 0 placed trans- V versely over the top of the track, just above the headway on top of the train. Thetwo vertical riser-pipes 0 should be well braced by means of suitable stays or braces, 0.

An operatingcord, D, preferably of wire rope, is run through the conduit-pipe at each side of the track, and one end passing out at the elbow G is attached to the contiguous end of the switch-rail A and thence extending through the said conduit-pipes, as above described, debouches therefrom at a convenient point in the pipe 0 directly over the top of 8 the cars passing thereunder, and thence hangs down a short distance and terminates in a ring, D, placed so any of the train-hands can easily reach and pull it,so as to move andadj ust the switch-rails as desired without leaving the 0 train. At the points where the operatingropes leave the transverse pipe (3 sheaves (1 should be attached to the said pipe so as to ease the operating-cord in its movements.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The switch -rails of a railwaytrack, coupled together by a transverse operatingrod and operated by operating-cords attached,

respectively, to the moving endsof the switchguiding-tubes O, 0, C 0, C, and 0", comrails, and conducted thence through conduitbined and arranged substantially as described. IO tubes to points placed at some distance from In witness whereof I have hereunto set my the switch-rails and above the traeksand hand in presence of two witnesses.

within reach of the trai 11 men, substantially as WILLIAM DOUGLASS \\'OOI)\\'ARD. described. Vitnesses:

2. The switch-rails A, connecting-rod B, G. S. LADUC, operating-cords D, and the handles D,and the M. H. OBRIEN. 

